Mayan culture can be known as a very crazy culture but it can also have many interesting things. I'm from Puebla, Mexico. My city is not near to Chiapas or Cancun where the mayans are from, but Mayans are very important to the Mexican culture so everyone knows about it. My two best friends are Rodrigo and Arturo. Rodrigo is a crazy young man who likes to discover new things. Arturo in the other hand is a guy thinks about the risks and what is good or wrong in a situation. I feel I'm the leader of the group honestly because I'm always guiding and supporting them. My grandpa called me a few days ago, inviting me to visit him this summer. It has been 1 year without seeing my grandpa so without thinking my answer was yes. I have known Rodrigo since I was a little kid. I remember the days when I …show more content…
“Nice to meet you Suns God. Sorry for this misunderstanding we just got lost in the huge city of Palenque, then we fell down in a hole and I don't know how we ended up here.” I said ashamed. “There's no problem kids, it is a pleasure to have you here, it has been a long time without having a visit. Let me show you the city.” Ahau Kin said kindly. We walked with Ahau Kin and his mayan soldiers. He gave us a tour of the beautiful Mayan city. We looked at the pretty lakes, the little houses of the citizens made of wood and straw. He also showed us the incredible sculptures the Mayan people can make. Finally we arrived to his huge palace where he gave us some typical food. We were eating corn, tortillas, tamales, pasta, a typical drink called atole and for dessert we ate cacao which is chocolate. After the dinner he took us to his most valuable room, “the gold room.” It was a huge room full of gold, diamonds and silver, it was something incredible. “This is is the most important room for me, I love any kind of jewelry.” Ahau Kin expressed. “It looks really nice sir, I wish I could have all of these.” Rodrigo
In the article "Sacred Sustenance: Maize, Storytelling, and a Mayan Sense of Place," the author, Leah Alexandra Huff, is arguing that Ethnographers should pay more attention to stories because they allow for a deeper understanding of cultures. To support her argument, she uses the example of the significance of maize in the Mayan civilization as well as their sense of place. Huff first describes the importance of place in building and maintaining a community and developing it identity. She explains that place was important for indigenous communities such as the Mayans because land was part of their cultural and spiritual systems. Huff then goes on to detail the importance of storytelling. She argues that storytelling helps create identity,
A few examples of the Mayan’s achievements were their trade routes, understanding of numbers and their architecture. In the article it was said the, “ Everything was carried by hand or boat.” (Document A, Box 1) The Manyan trade routes were remarkable because they were so genius. They had
As far back as Rigoberta Manchu can remember, her life has been divided between the highlands of Guatemala and the low country plantations called the fincas. Routinely, Rigoberta and her family spent eight months working here under extremely poor conditions, for rich Guatemalans of Spanish descent. Starvation malnutrition and child death were common occurrence here; rape and murder were not unfamiliar too. Rigoberta and her family worked just as hard when they resided in their own village for a few months every year. However, when residing here, Rigoberta’s life was centered on the rituals and traditions of her community, many of which gave thanks to the natural world. When working in the fincas, she and her people struggled to survive, living at the mercy of wealthy landowners in an overcrowded, miserable environment. By the time Rigoberta was eight years old she was hard working and ...
“this is going to be a treasure” Kristina stated from the other side of the room
Archaeology has a way of inspiring images of exotic times of long ago. Curiosity about the past has excited the hearts and minds of mankind for centuries. Oscar Wilde, a poet and archaeologist, said “[Archaeology] was a means by which they could touch the dry dust of antiquity into the very breath and beauty of life, and fill the new wine of romanticism forms that had been old and outworn” (p54). It’s easy for us to fantasize about a time much different than our own, and often we choose not to see the injustice and inequalities that existed. For the scope of this exposition, the focus will not be on the mysteries of the ancient world. Instead, it will be aimed at the economical inequalities of gender and class in the ancient society, and how archaeological evidence found in Mayan architecture, diet, and burial sites is used to detect these inequalities.
The Maya didn’t discover metallurgy until late in the Classic period and used it only to produce jewelry and decorations for the elite. Artists and their numerous assistants cut and filled the stones used for palaces, pyramids, and housing, aided only by levers and stone tools. Each wave of construction represented the mobilization of thousands of laborers.
The Maya were an advanced society, rich and full extraordinary architecture with great complexity of patterns and variety of expressions, that flourished in Mesoamerica long before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century. They were skilled architects, building prodigious cities of primarily of limestone that remain a thousand years after their civilization fell into decline. Greatness and Grandeur was the signature of all Mayan cities, from the terminal pre-classic period and continued until the abandonment of all the city states by the beginning of the ninth century. The Maya built pyramids, temples, palaces, walls, residences and more. The limestone structures, faced with lime stucco, were the hallmark of ancient Maya architecture.
I noticed as I was conducting my interview that as Fernando explained things in his life he mentioned his friends often and their involvement in his life. This leads me to believe that friends are an important part of Mexican culture (at least to men). Fernando often described situations in which he and his friends were participating in activities such as ports and games together especially in his early life. As small children this exposure to close relationships seems to have setup a lifetime of close relationships as well as a trusting nature.
Carlsen, Robert. The War for the Heart & Soul of a Highland Maya Town. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997.
Guatemala’s staple food is the beloved tamales plus the have a wide variety of exotic fruits and vegetables. Because of its Mayan influence, the dress that is worn is brightly colored and varies among the different regions of Guatemala. This makes it very easy to spot a person’s home town. The people of Guatemala are very proud of their ancestry, and they show it in everyday life. Guatemala is truly an astounding country that is a glimpse into the past while it moves to the
In the Central America, most notably the Yucatan Peninsula, are the Maya, a group of people whose polytheistic religion and advanced civilization once flourished (Houston, 43). The Maya reached their peak during the Classic Period from around CE 250 to the ninth century CE when the civilization fell and dispersed (Sharer, 1). Although much has been lost, the gods and goddesses and the religious practices of the Classic Maya give insight into their lives and reveal what was important to this society.
The Mayans lived in Southern Mexico and Central America in their capital, Tikal, which is in present day Guatemala. The Mayans were known for their engineering, one structure they were famous for is their pyramid temple in Tikal (Document 1). This pyramid was the tallest structure in the Americas up until the 20th century and is still standing today. The government must have been strong and well organized in order to carry out such a large task. The Mayan religion had multiple gods and this pyramid was most likely devoted to one or used as a place for sacrifices. Another accomplishment of the Mayans was the creation of their calendar. An extra document that would be useful is one that explains how the calendar was created. The Mayans must have studied astronomy and math to a great length. Similar to the Ancient Egyptians, they wrote with symbols and pictures known as glyphs that were used in the calendar. These glyphs were gods, such as Zotz (Document 2). The use of glyphs is an acknowledgement of a writing system, which is another accomplishment.
The European and Mayan civilizations had inverse experiences during the Classical era, but they were similar in some aspects. While the Mayans were basking in their glorious success as a civilization, the Europeans stood in their shadow. However, after the Renaissance Era, it was as if the Mayans stood in the shadow of the European revival. These two societies have a definite inverse relationship, in that while one was succeeding, the other was squandering. For example, the forward thinking of the Mayans and their knowledge of arithmetic and science was overshadowed by the revolutionary ideas created by European scientists, the fact that the Mayans had created a complex, and accurate calendar wasn’t nearly as celebrated as a European man who got hit by an apple.
The musical traditions of Mayan possess a characterized hybrid nature from the traditions of pre and post encounter instrumentation, performance, practice, and beliefs. In the present day, it is possible to evaluate the Mayan music from a contemporary point to determine the characteristics affiliated with both European and indigenous. This paper aims at explaining the musical selections of Mayan music using scholarly literature to assert premise regarding the hybridization. In the light of the social context, it is possible to say that the Mayan music of nowadays has some references from both pre and post Encounter perspectives. Maya music is regarded as a function of the system that involves Maya beliefs symbols and other practices
Maya civilization was based mainly on agriculture and religion. Maya every day life revolved around an innumerable number of earth Gods. The most important God was chief, ruler of all Gods. The Mayans prayed to these God’s particularly about their crops. For example, they prayed to the Rain God to nourish their crops. They practiced their religion during ceremonies conducted by priests. They also practiced confession and even fasted before important ceremonies (Gann and Thompson 1931 118-138). The Mayans also b...